Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Electing Local Councils



Recently, there has been more interest and observation of some
parts of local government by active citizens,
on topics ranging from
the
animal shelter
to
biomass
to
education
to

farmers markets
to

fast food vs. neighborhoods
to
private prisons
to

the Quitman 10
to
solar power
to
T-SPLOST,
all in aid of
transparency.
Engaging elected and
appointed officials in

dialog about the concerns and best interests


of the community

has been challenging.
Yet we can see the sun a little clearer through the smoke.

Ensuring that people who will
engage in dialog and seek the benefit of the entire community are

appointed to boards lies in the hands of the elected officials.
Electing people who engage in dialog and seek the benefit of the

Continue reading →

I am disappointed these matters are being swept under the rug —Susan Leavens

These comments came in yesterday and today on

Find out the truth about allegations of animal cruelty and abuse. -jsq



Yesterday:

Tomorrow will be a week and I have had no response! Very disappointing.

-Jane Osborn

Today:



Mrs. Osborn,

Thank you so much for your support. The County manager and several county
employees interviewed all the workers after a drug screen was conducted on
all employees back in late august of 2010. Several (4) employees advised
the people conducting the investigation (Joe Prichard, Mickey Tillman,
Page Dukes and Suzanne Pittman) of the charges brought to the Department
of Agriculture. From the

Continue reading →

I think that addresses the issues —Joe Pritchard

In David Rodock’s
VDT story on the animal shelter tour
Joe Pritchard made the case for cameras:



“It’s no longer a case of an individual making a claim, as it will
be evident by the physical evidence provided by the security cameras,”
said Pritchard. “The standard operating procedures such as frequency
of inspection of the animals and how often an animal will be reviewed
or examined, along with the veterinarian care, have been revised to the
general procedures set by guidelines of the Department of Agriculture
and the animal control ordinance we adopted several years ago.”

“You take that policy, coupled with the updated standard operating
procedures, added to the technical verification and I think that addresses
the issues,” said Pritchard. “My purpose is to eliminate any problem
or potential problem.”



Sounds to me like he’s saying the issues are resolved.
Remember,

“resolved” is the word Chairman Paulk used a few hours before.

If anyone is interested in watching the watchers,
the
animal control ordinance
is online.

-jsq

VDT incorporates video into animal shelter tour report

Guess they thought a good time to start in-line YouTube video
was when they could show

kitties and puppies.
Hey, if that gets the VDT doing video, I’m for it!

David Rodock wrote 26 May 2011,

Tour of the Lowndes County Animal Shelter



As promised at Tuesday’s Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
meeting, the Lowndes County Animal Shelter (LCAS) allowed the public
the opportunity Wednesday afternoon to get a behind-the-scenes look at
the facility that has recently come under fire.

Employees, both past and present, have accused several shelter employees
of inhumane treatment of animals, the mishandling of tranquilizers and
illegal operating procedures.



At least two of the speakers at the commission earlier in the day
took the tour:

Jessica Bryan Hughes
and

Judy Havercamp.

One of the visitors summed it up:

Continue reading →

Mr. Fletcher’s misrepresentation of the ingress and egress —Vince Schneider

Continuing the Foxborough McDonald’s story,
Vince Schneider sent the appended to Commissioner Richard Raines Thursday.
I have added some related material, including pictures of the 12 July 2010
Commission meeting to which he refers.
-jsq

From: “Schneider, Vincent H”

Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 12:15:18

To: Schneider, Vincent H,rraines@lowndescounty.com

Subject: Schneider: County Engineer: Foxborough Subdivision Streets

Commissioner Raines,

Sir,

I hope your day is going well. I’m spending half this afternoon with the
dentist getting a permanent crown installed and the other half with my
wife’s kidney doctor. Life must truck on regardless of the Foxborough
McDonalds issue.



Sir, twice I made statements to you in regards to County Engineer,
Mr. Mike Fletcher. I now wish to present my position in writing. My
first statement was during our first phone conversation on 18 May
2011. During that conversation I rather colorfully stated

Continue reading →

Foxborough McDonalds will violate ordinance 97-0704. — Vince Schneider

Vince Schneider follows up from
his previous correspondence.
I have added links and a comment at the end.
-jsq



From: “Schneider, Vincent H”

Date: Wed, 25 May 2011 16:16:07 -0400

To: rraines@lowndescounty.com

Subject: Schneider Citizens Wishing To Be Heard Meeting 24 May 2011

Commissioner Raines,

Sir,

Thank you

for suggesting that I continue to address my concerns of the
Foxborough McDonalds with the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners. I
truly hope that with the Board’s help, the neighbors and the Foxborough
McDonalds can come to some mutual agreement as to acceptable hours of
operation.

Attached is an e-copy of what

I presented to the Lowndes County Board
of Commissioners at last night’s Citizen’s Wishing To Be Heard meeting.

I’m a little frustrated that I’m unable to obtain a copy of

Lowndes
County Ordinances. I don’t fully understand why. Where are they? I
understand that ignorance of the law is not an acceptable defense in a
court of law, however when one wants to know and is making an earnest
effort to find out what the law is and the law is unavailable what is
one to do?

The Lowndes County Ordinance thus far researched that shows most
promise in helping to at least curtail the Foxborough McDonalds hours
of operation is the

ordinance on noise, Lowndes County Ordinance 97-0704.
The Foxborough McDonalds will violate ordinance 97-0704. I
believe a compromise can be reached whereby the Foxborough McDonalds
will agree to stop all food preparation and selling operations at 10:00
pm on weeknights and at 12:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights. If
McDonalds is permitted to operate 24hours a day it will establish a
precedent for the area. We need not to allow this to happen. Currently
there is no store as such in the area that operates 24hours a day. The
closest store as such is the Burger King that is on the other side of
I-75, well over a mile away. That store has no residential neighbors.
Looking forward to hearing what Chief Guyton has to say on this issue.



Next question if I may. Last night I received some information through
an open records request on the Foxborough McDonalds from Lowndes County
Clerk, Paige Dukes. I have only briefly scanned a few of the documents
and have already found some interesting and disturbing issues. I
believe I’ve stated to you that I have a copy of the Lowndes County

Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) and that I have spent considerable
time in studying it. My question is who should I address these issues
with? The paramount issue thus far concerns the road Foxborough Ave
itself. I don’t believe that unless a variance was granted that the
road Foxborough Ave is so designated to permit a commercial enterprise.
Nearly a year ago I made this argument before the Lowndes County Board


of Commissioners and Commissioner Lee directed the County Engineer, Mr.
Mike Fletcher to look into it. I never received an answer from
Commissioner Lee or Mr. Fletcher.

If not sooner Commissioner Raines, I will see you at the next Citizens
Wishing To Be Heard meeting on 14 June at 5:30pm.

Wishing you an enjoyable and restful vacation,

With Sincerest Respects,

Vince Schneider

Nine ordinances are listed

on the Lowndes County website, but hundreds have been passed.
Indeed, where are they?

-jsq

I will look into any potential code violation —Richard Raines

Commissioner Raines is new to the job and he may not have been following
the Foxborough saga last year, since Vince Schneider already did
all that; I have added a few links and pictures for illustration. -jsq



From: Richard Raines

To: Vincent Schneider

Cc: Joe Pritchard

Cc: Ashley Paulk

Cc: Joyce Evans

Cc: Crawford Powell

Subject: Follow Up

Sent: May 23, 2011 3:20 PM

Mr. Schneider,

Thank you for meeting with me briefly this morning. As promised,
I forwarded your letter along to the other members of the Board of
Commissioners, the County Manager, and our County Fire Chief.

I’ve ased Chief Guyton to review your letter to see if any of your
grievances warrant an inspection by Code Enforcement.

As you mentioned today, your desire is to see the McDonald’s Restaurant

Continue reading →

Find out the truth about allegations of animal cruelty and abuse —Jane Osborn

This came in to the submission address Thursday.
More in
this topic
and

this VDT story.
-jsq

From: “Jane Osborn”

Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 23:21:09 -0400

Subject: criminal issues

Here is what I just sent to the Sheriff’s office by email:



I wanted to ask if someone who witnessed the alleged abuse of animals
at the Lowndes County Animal Shelter has to make a direct report to law
enforcement for an investigation to be started or if second-hand
information from the media would be good enough. I will include a link
to a video of the testimony of a shelter officer at the Lowndes County
Commission meeting this week. I am under the impression that animal
abuse is a criminal offense and that just having these reports go to
the Department of Agriculture will only result in a fine for the
shelter, not resolution of possible criminal wrongdoing.

Here is the link:

http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/2011/05/neglect-abuse-suffering-falsifying-documents-susan-leavins-lcc-24-may-2011.html

Please let me know if it is possible for a criminal investigation can
be started to find out the truth about allegations of animal cruelty
and abuse.

Thank you. Jane Osborn

If the commissioners will not handle this, perhaps law enforcement
will. Jane

Jane F. Osborn, MSSW

Valdosta, GA

Lowndes County has to pay Industrial Authority’s bond debts



According to the
Intergovernmental Contract between VLCIA and Lowndes County:

WHEREAS, the Authority and the County propose to enter into this Contract,
pursuant to which the Authority will agree, among other things, to issue
the Bonds, and the County will agree, among other things, to pay to the
Authority amounts sufficient to pay the debt service on the Bonds.

So it seems the Lowndes County Commission committed the county,
that is, we the taxpayers, to pay the debt service on
$15,000,000 in bonds issued by VLCIA.

Still, what did VLCIA want $15 million in bonds for when
it already gets $3 million a year in its own tax millage?

WHEREAS, the Authority proposes to acquire and develop one or more parcels
of land located in the County for potential economic development purposes
(the “Project”);

To buy land to trade to new industries as they come in.
A variation on what

Brad Lofton got fired for doing in Effingham County.

Continue reading →

Restudy that those are the right people



The last animal shelter speaker
said she was looking at it from
a business perspective.
She called Commissioner Powell and they had a conversation.
She got a copy of the animal control ordinance.
She said she thought she had seen some things that others had not.
She complimented the Commissioners:

I know you to be people of your word.

After all that she indicated:

I guess I’m just asking that you restudy…
that those are the right people.

After she finished, Chairman Ashley Paulk said there would be a tour
of the shelter and everyone was invited.

Here’s

the video:




Restudy that those are the right people

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 May 2011.

Videos by Johh S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq